


When Har(Rey) Met Solo

by mafgmouse



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: A love letter to Los Angeles, Ben is Sally, Ben's hair is as good as Meg Ryan's, F/M, Finn is Carrie Fisher, Harry Connick Jr. - Freeform, New Year's Eve, Rey is Harry, Slow Burn, Time Skips, When Harry Met Sally AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-16
Updated: 2019-04-16
Packaged: 2020-01-14 21:18:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18484543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mafgmouse/pseuds/mafgmouse
Summary: It's amazing. Every time Ben thinks that Rey is a normal person, she opens her mouth and she is the angel of death.orRey drives Ben to Los Angeles after graduation. Then sits next to him on a train five years later. Then swipes right five years after that. Then decides that maybe men and women can be friends."When Harry Met Sally" AU where Rey is Harry, Ben is Sally and there's definitely a fake orgasm in a deli.





	When Har(Rey) Met Solo

"Should I just take my stuff out of the car?"

"They seem to almost be done."

"Hux, he just breached like a whale and dove back in."  
The ‘heʼ in question was a member of Huxʼs fraternity, and he was currently crowding a petite brunette up against the rusted Outback that would carry him to LA. The girl, Rey, was also making her way cross country and somehow Ben had been convinced that hitching a ride with this stranger was his best post- grad option. 

He sighed more forcefully, hoping the sheer power would blow them apart. "This is a horrible idea. At this rate, weʼll be lucky to get there by Labor Day!" Ben groaned, craning back his head in exasperation just in time to get a raindrop straight to the cornea. He wouldnʼt miss Seattle. 

"Well, Ben, Iʼm not sure if youʼve heard," Hux smirked. "But you canʼt hurry love." 

"Maybe the rain can."

"No, youʼll just have to wait."

"Iʼm going to say something."

The brunette finally rehinged her jaw to turn and look at Ben. 

"You’ve been saying something for like 10 minutes. Get in and get the GPS loaded if you’re so antsy,” Rey said, before giving Beta Theta Chad a last kiss on the cheek. 

Satisfied that a departure was imminent, Ben shook Huxʼs hand before stooping into the passenger side of the old Subaru. Rey joined him a moment after, and, while studiously ignoring the waves of Lambda Chi Lance, drove away from campus. 

‘So,’ Rey began, no hint of apology in her lilting voice, ‘Itʼs about 18 hours to LA. I figure I’ll drive the first nine, you take the second?’ 

‘Fine by me,ʼ Ben replied, shifting to try to get more comfortable. This car was long but squat. 

‘You can adjust the seat if you want,ʼ Rey chimed in as she merged onto the freeway.

He fiddled around, nearly tipping over backwards trying to find a way to keep his knees from making sweet love to the glove compartment. Ben gave a satisfied grunt as he slid the chair back, and settled in for the drive.

Rey shifted in the driverʼs seat, steering with one hand while leaning on the center console.

‘Ummm... so which house were you in?ʼ she asked after a few miles of quiet.

‘I wasnʼt.ʼ

‘Thereʼs a surprise,ʼ she said, cutting her eyes to give him a once over.

‘What? Do I look brain dead to you?ʼ Ben bristled. 

‘Nah,ʼ Rey said, clearly unbothered by his tone. ‘Just that itʼs hard to believe a hunk like you managed to evade the call of the keg.ʼ 

Ben felt his ears redden. ‘Weʼre like 10 minutes into an 18 hour drive and youʼre already insulting my looks.ʼ 

‘I called you a hunk!ʼ she said, affronted.

‘Sure, sarcastically.ʼ 

‘Please! Youʼre over six foot, could potentially benchpress a cattle and youʼre rocking a serious Farah Fawcett feathered flip.ʼ

Ben was dumbstruck. Was she seriously coming on to him? In a Subaru?

‘You were just going full barnacle on Delta Tau Dwayne back there, and now youʼre hitting on me? You move on quick.ʼ

‘Come on,ʼ Rey rolled her eyes. ‘I wasnʼt propositioning you. Just stating the facts. And he has no illusions about us now that college is over.ʼ 

Ben pivoted his knees so he could look at her face better. There was no indication that she was bitter or torn up about this. 

‘Wait... so youʼre not going to keep in touch with him? Hux said you two dated for like a long time. And now you wonʼt even be friends?ʼ

Rey snorted. She fished a Klean Kanteen out of the cup holder in the door and took a long drink before replying. 

‘First of all, he almost definitely doesnʼt know my major,ʼ she said. ‘Second of all, men canʼt be friends with women.ʼ 

Benʼs jaw dropped.‘Youʼre kidding me. Itʼs 2008! It is completely backwards to say men and women canʼt be friends.ʼ 

Rey took another long drink, shaking her head as he finished speaking. 

‘Oh, I didnʼt say women couldnʼt be friends with men.ʼ

Ben waited for her to continue, but she seemed content to let it lie. 

‘Is this a brain teaser? The woman is friends with the man, but the man isnʼt friends with the woman, so how long is a giraffeʼs tongue?ʼ 

Rey rolled her eyes again. ‘Itʼs not a riddle. Iʼm saying that a woman can have a normal, platonic relationship with a straight man. She can be friends with him, and value his company, regardless of whether or not she views him as a potential sexual partner.ʼ 

She paused, giving him a look to make sure he was following. Ben raised his eyebrows, waiting for the conclusion. 

‘In contrast, men—straight ones mostly, but Iʼm equal opportunity—are trash monsters, who donʼt consider a woman worth their time unless they actively want to have sex with them.ʼ  
She paused, considering. 

'Or if theyʼre their mother I suppose. But we saw how that worked out for Oedipus.ʼ 

Ben gaped.‘Thatʼs crazy! Thatʼs insulting! Thatʼs—‘ 

‘Completely accurate?ʼ Rey interrupted.

‘A really sad way to look at the world.ʼ

‘Okay, Mr. Optimism,ʼ Rey said, licking her lips and sitting up straighter, clearly gearing up for a fight. ‘Tell me all about your close female friends.ʼ

‘You canʼt base an entire world view on anecdotal evidence!ʼ

‘Wow, not even one? You donʼt even want to take a minute to make one up?ʼ

Ben paused, thinking. 

‘Phasma. Sheʼs been dating Hux for two years and I have no interest in her as a sexual partner.ʼ 

Rey side eyed him.‘Friendʼs girlfriends donʼt count as your friends by default. Did you see her independent of Hux at least once a month? Do you know about her family? Her career goals? Does she know your Starbucks order?ʼ

Ben huffed,‘Those are completely arbitrary parameters of friendship!ʼ

Rey smirked. ‘I rest my case.ʼ 

‘Whatever. Iʼm going to sleep. Wake me up if you need to talk to stay awake,ʼ Ben shifted to look out the window, pillowing his head on a sweatshirt. ‘But donʼt get too familiar since we canʼt ever be friends!ʼ

‘Well, I can be friends with you, but you canʼt be friends with me.ʼ 

‘If you say so.ʼ

‘One day weʼre watching a hockey game in sweatpants and the next youʼre trying to teach me something or making me pick out your clothes.ʼ

‘I get it, Rey.ʼ

‘Swooping in like Captain America to pay three dollars for my boba and somehow always touching my lower back.ʼ

‘Iʼm asleep now, Rey.ʼ

The car was finally blessedly silent, until—‘‘Youʼre just not like other girls.ʼ’

He was going to kill Hux, AND Sigma Alpha Eric. 

_________________________________________________

They hadnʼt exactly bonded so far. Ben slept for about two hours before being unable to tune out the Kings of Leon that Rey was passionately whispering to. They tried talking about what they had studied, but that went downhill fast. 

“Isn’t print journalism kind of… dying?”

Ben groaned. “The medium of a physical newspaper might be fading, but there will always be a market for well-researched, diligent reporting.”

“I read some well-researched reporting that social media is kind of draining your audience,” Rey said, skeptically. 

“You think Twitter is the future of news in America? Someone smashing out typos from their couch, updating the world about their latest sandwich?” Ben scoffed. “Real journalism is grueling work, long slogs, tracking down sources and cutting through red tape.” 

“You’re kind of a drama queen. I’m not sure that your hair care routine can stand up to any grueling or slogging.”

“Why are you so obsessed with my hair?” Ben growled. 

“Also, isn’t most of the big reporting on the campaign trail? Shouldn’t you be camping out at primaries and finding some chads to hang?” 

“For your information, I don’t want to be a political reporter. I’m on the education beat,” Ben said, cheekily. “And the problem was that the chads were hanging.”  
Rey hummed thoughtfully before falling silent. 

“Okay, since you know all about the coming employment trends, what will you be doing in the City of Angels?” Ben asked. 

Rey smirked. 

“I have a spot on the sport desk at the LA Times.”

Ben’s jaw dropped. She was the devil. 

__________________________________________________

“How could possibly be on Mark’s side?”

“Because he just wanted her to know how perfect she is and that he’ll always love her no matter what!”

“Okay—but the ‘what’ is that she’s married to Peter, his best friend!” 

“He didn’t ask her to leave him, Rey. He just needed her to know.”

“Ben, that’s a crock of shit. And he didn’t want her to leave Peter.”

“Then what did he want?”

“Obviously, he wanted her to sleep with him.”

“Rey, that’s crazy. Why would he want to have sex with his best friends wife if it isn’t going to lead to anything?”

Rey pulled into a gas station next to a diner near Mt. Shasta, put the car in park and turned her whole body to the passenger seat.

“Because, Ben,” she said. “He can’t possibly be in love with a woman he isn’t in a relationship with. He wants the thrill of fucking a married woman, without the responsibility of what comes with it.”

“How could that be worth it?” Ben asked, incredulous. 

“Having forbidden sex?” 

“Uh-huh?”

“With your best friend’s wife.”

“Yes, and?”

“One night, motivated by a passion so intense you forget all consequences?”

“Exactly. Who would do that?”

Rey stared at him for a second, then nodded. “Okay, I think I get it.” 

She hopped out of the car and headed towards the restaurant. Ben sat confused for a second before rushing after her. “What do you get?”

Rey opened the door for him, following Ben into the waiting area. 

“You haven’t had great sex.”

Ben gaped. “I have, too!”

“You have? You’ve had great sex?”

They sat down at the booth they were led to, and Rey picked up her menu. But Ben wasn’t done yet. 

“I have. In fact, most of the sex I’ve had has been great.”

Rey shook her head, and folded her menu.

“You’ve fallen into the pizza fallacy. Like pizza, sex isn’t always great but it’s usually pretty good. So you don’t even notice that you’ve eaten an entire large Pizza Hut, when somewhere out there was Giordano’s.”

“Well, I’m not talking about pizza. I’m talking about the great sex. That I’ve had. With a person. And it was great.” 

“With who?”

“What do you mean with who?”

“Who did you have this great sex with?”

Ben chewed on his lip. He didn’t have to tell her. But that look on her face was just so … 

“Eliza Schwartz.”

“Eliza Schwartz?”

“Yes, I had great sex with Eliza Schwartz.”

“And what happened to Eliza Schwartz? Surely you couldn’t have just let that great sex go.” 

“I personally value a relationship for more than sex,” Ben said, sniffing as he opened the menu. “And if you must know, she was older and didn’t want to do long distance when she went to college.”

Rey burst out laughing. 

“Okay, if you think you had great sex when you were in high school, then this conversation is officially pointless.” 

Ben gaped at her, “As long as this conversation is officially over, then I’m happy.”

There was a long pause.

“Well sure, you’re happy. You’ve never had great sex.”

He clenched his teeth, but continue to flip through the menu, printed as a local newspaper. Ben sighed as he searched for something that he could eat. He didn’t keep Kosher anymore, especially since his parents had leaned more “ish” than “Jew” since the kids left the house and a Hawaiian restaurant opened down the block. Nevertheless, he still didn’t mix meat and dairy (more for his digestion than anything else), and his health routine meant he mostly ate lean white fish. 

Fish seemed like a bad idea this far inland, and based on what a large presence happy bears played in the decor. Most of their meats had gravy or cream sauce (or both?). 

“I figured this place wouldn’t be up to your standards,” Rey said.

“This is just my reading face. Also it’s the middle of the night.”

“Ben, it’s 10:48.” 

“Rey, please let me live.” 

She giggled, pulling out a purple Razr and began rapidly clicking through buttons to write a text. Ben sighed and folded his menu, looking up at Rey. 

“Okay, I’m ready to order, and since I’m driving next I want to get out of here fast.” 

Rey finished her text and flipped her phone closed. “I’m ready.” 

“You didn’t look at the menu.” 

She gestured to the waitress that had sat him, before saying, “I’m not picky. I’m pretty sure they have a cheeseburger and fries.”

Rey turned to the waitress, “I’ll have a Coke, and a cheeseburger with fries.”

“Great,” the woman nodded scribbling something on her pad before turning to Ben. “And what can I get you, sugar?” 

“When did the coffee get brewed last?” 

The waitress tilted her head, “Ummm, I just put one on a few minutes ago. We go through it fast all night. Lots of truckers, campers, hikers.”

Ben nodded, “Alright, then I’ll take a cup of coffee. I don’t need room for cream. I’d like a plate with two grilled chicken breasts and four egg whites, no oil or seasoning on either, and a side of steamed broccoli.”

The waitress furrowed her brow but started writing. “Alright, uh, is that all for you both?”

“Actually, can I get the pecan bear claw before the rest of the food?” Rey said. 

The older woman laughed, and said, “You two are really a pair. Anything from the case for you, darling?” 

“God no,” Ben scoffed. Rey rubbed at her temples, clearly embarrassed by his response, but the waitress didn’t seem too put off as she left to get Rey’s pastry. 

Simultaneously, Ben and Rey turned to chastise each other. 

“How can you be such a pig?”

“Why do you hate all joy?” 

Rey shook her head, “I eat a lot, but a) this is a road trip and b) I want to be in a proper food coma by the time we get back on the road. You eat like Kate Moss.” 

Ben rolled his eyes, “I eat a high protein diet to support muscle mass. I read a feature on diets of Olympic athletes, and this is how they eat, too.”

Rey opened her mouth to respond, but paused to accept her soda and bear claw from the waitress. After Ben had stirred two Splendas into his coffee, Rey continued. 

“First of all, you’re not an Olympian. Trying to eat like an Olympian just to get shredded is unhealthy,” she paused to rip off a piece of pastry covered in maple frosting and pecans. “Second of all, the athletes that eat all protein diets like that are gymnasts. If you keep eating like this, you’ll never get your period again.”

“You’re condescending, and ridiculous, and, frankly, a little sexist,” Ben replied. 

“Nah, you’re just high maintenance.”

“I’m simple. I try to live an austere lifestyle.” 

Rey chewed thoughtfully, eyeballing him and his cup of coffee. “What are the odds I could dip my pastry in your coffee?” 

Ben never realized his jaw could genuinely drop. “Literally, zero. You’ll get frosting and crumbs and shit in it!” 

Rey smiled triumphantly, “See? High maintenance. Simple means low expectations, high tolerance. Austere means taking the world as it is.”

“Both of those definitions are bull shit you just made up to prove a point.”

“You know what the real problem is with you?” Rey continued, unperturbed. 

“No, but I feel like I’m about to find out.”

“You’re the worst kind of high maintenance. Because you’re high maintenance, but think you’re low maintenance.”

Ben was still ignoring her when their food came. 

__________________________________________________

Back on the road, Rey was drooling onto her sweatshirt and Ben was listening to whatever NPR affiliate the radio could pick up nearing Santa Barbara. He would be starting a low-level position with KCRW on the West Side in two weeks, and needed to get more familiar with state politics. His interest in local affairs was probably what got him the job; most newly minted poli sci-journalism doubles wanted to cover the last few months of the presidential campaign. Ben has smaller fish to fry. 

His last names didn’t hurt either.

Rey awoke with a snort, rubbing the sleep from her eyes and drool from her chin. 

“Wow, how long was I out?”

Ben rolled his eyes, but answered, “Well, we left that godforsaken diner at 11:30 and now the clock says 6:15, so my abacus estimates almost 7 goddamn hours.”

Rey smirked. 

“Yikes, the last time I was awake you were ignoring me. Did you want me to be awake for that?”

“No, it just seems kind of dangerous to knock out for an entire night’s sleep while someone else is at the wheel of your car.” 

“You probably would have told me if you were narcoleptic.”

“You don’t have to have narcolepsy to fall asleep at the wheel,” Ben said, fully aware of how prissy he sounded. “Plus, you barely know me. I could be a maladjusted sociopath.”

“Nah,” Rey said. “I already knew you’re a maladjusted sociopath, and I still let you take the wheel.”

“I take it all back. Please, go to sleep.” 

Rey yawned and stretched, “I’m all good now. Ready to get to know my only friend in LA.”

“Yeah, and who’s that?”

“You, silly! I was thinking we could join an ocean yoga group together, and have weekly chats over wheatgrass smoothies. What else does one do in LA?”

Ben’s eyes nearly rolled into the back of his head.

“Have you ever been to LA? 99% of us are nothing like that.” 

“Us? You already think of yourself as an Angeleno?”

“I’m from Pico-Robertson. My mom was raised in the Orthodox community, but left to go to college.”

“Where is Peak of Robertson? And what Orthodox community?”

“It’s Pico-Robertson like the two boulevards. And the Orthodox Jewish community. Were you raised in a barn?”

Rey cackled, “No, just abandoned in one.”

“Your sense of humor is not charming. And you should be careful about making jokes about LA Jews. We don’t take that shit.”

Rey’s face furrowed into a frown. “I wasn’t kidding. I was actually abandoned in a barn when I was a kid.”

Ben glanced at her to make sure she wasn’t pulling his leg. 

“And I wasn’t making a joke about Jews. I had a … nonconventional childhood and education.” 

He raised an eyebrow. “You’ve been at UWash for four years.”

She shook her head, “Just two. I transferred from community college. And I usually just move along if I don’t get something so people don’t think I’m weird.”

“Well, why did you ask me then?”

“Because you already think I’m a freak of nature.”

Ben couldn’t help it. He burst out laughing and soon Rey joined in. 

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Even at the early hour, traffic into the basin was a clusterfuck, and Rey complained the whole time. He took a masochistic glee in telling her that this was going to be her new reality commuting to the Times office downtown. He wiped away tears when she said she’d take surface streets. He almost rear ended the car in front of them when she said she’d just take public transportation. 

“Enjoy the Purple Line extension coming in 7 to 10 years pending local and federal approval.” 

“Well, that’s an oddly specific burn,” Rey pouted. 

“I’m starting a position on the Transit Desk. Plus, I spent my teen years taking buses around LA. Relying on public transportation in LA means doubling or tripling your travel time, assuming that there isn’t construction, delays, road closures…” 

“What if you don’t have a car?”

Ben shrugged. “Then your life is really hard. California’s progressive, but it’s not equitable.”

Rey hmmed, but didn’t respond, turning to look out her window at the skyscrapers of downtown as they finally merged onto the 10. 

They pulled up to his parents’ in the late morning. Rey got out of the passenger’s side to unlock the trunk while he tried to pull out his bag and two neatly taped boxes without any of her cactuses sliding onto the pavement. 

They stood awkwardly for a second before Rey thrust out her hand. 

“Thanks for keeping me company,” she said, shaking his hand firmly.

“Thanks for the inevitable food poisoning.”

Rey smiled and it was toothy and bright.

“Have a nice life, Ben Solo.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed! This will be a three parter, with the second part up later this week. Chapter titles come from the songs in each part of the movie, which has an iconic soundtrack.


End file.
